Indian government to donate Gandhi statue to Adeje

The Indian government has pledged to donate a sculpture of Mahatma Gandhi to the Tenerife town of Adeje.

The Indian Ambassador to Spain, Venkatesh Varma, met with Adeje mayor José Miguel Rodríguez Fraga, and visited the Peace Park where the statue will be located.

The Adeje mayor, José Miguel Rodríguez Fraga, hosted a visit from the Indian Ambassador to Spain, Venkatesh Varma, in the Town Hall. Also present were a number of local representatives of the large Hindu community who live in Adeje and other parts of south Tenerife.

Ambassador Varma, who made particular reference to the work Adeje has and continues to do to assist the integration of the Hindu community and all those who come to live here, announced that the Indian government would be donating a sculpture of Mahatma Gandhi to the borough. “For us it is an immense honour that one of our most important icons, a man who was a standard bearer for human values and the fight for peace, will have a place in Adeje”, said the Ambassador, adding that all that was left was to confirm technical details for the transport of the statue to the island.

Rodríguez Fraga invited the Ambassador to visit the site where the Peace Park is to be located, in El Madroñal, and where the statue will stand. For the mayor, it was “a great honour to host this visit of the Ambassador”, adding that the local Hindu community were marked by their levels of participation and integration in all of the social and cultural life of the borough, “and they have helped us promote our objective of creating a town where social harmony, peace and co-existence are the pillars of our identity”. Adeje is home to over 700 people of Indian birth, with over 3,000 Indians living in South Tenerife, and, said the mayor, “they take part in activities to do with their own culture as well as becoming a part of our local culture”.

The Ambassador signed the official visitors’ book and also expressed his sadness at the attacks in Catalonia during the week, also signing the book of condolences outside the Town Hall. He said he was speaking on behalf of the Indian government in passing on those condolences.

Present at the official reception were members of different Hindu associations, Adeje councillors for the presidency, institutional relations, and patrimony, Carmen Rosa González, Zebenzui Chinea and Desiderio Afonso. During the welcome the mayor and the Ambassador exchanged gifts and afterwards visited emblematic parts of the town.

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